John
The hard drive is considered to be the most crucial part of every PC or laptop as it stores everything from your images and videos to important documents and games. Even the software your system needs to run the computer is stored on the hard drive.
Hard disk is considered to be permanent and long-term storage of every system. With time, there are chances of issues occurring in your hard drive. If there is any damage to your hard disk, that would also put your data stored in it at risk. So, it’s better to use the best HDD health checker for performing HDD health checks at regular intervals.
Every hard disk has a limited lifespan, and it is necessary to perform required checks at a time to sustain your hard drive for a longer time. With any HDD health checker, you will know about your hard drive condition. You will also know if you need to get your disk repaired or replaced.
What is HDD Health Check Software?
Data stored in the computer or laptop is important for everyone. You cannot let your data get lost or compromised because of hard drive damage. To prevent this, it is the right choice to use the best hard disk health check software that will let you know if you need to salvage your data when the hard drive is way beyond the condition of getting repaired.
If your data is lost once, then there is no way to retrieve it. To avoid such scenarios, it is advised to use an HDD health checker to be aware of the condition of your hard disk. You can try out different HDD health monitors to see which works best for your system.
These tools will look through your entire system to find out if the hard disk is corrupted or if it shows any symptoms of getting corrupted. The best disk health checker will not only save your data but will also save plenty of money on your side.
Who Should Get This?
Well, there’s no single-use of an HDD health checker. If you are a regular user of computers or laptops, then you are on the list of people who should get this software. It will help you out in preventing your data from being corrupted or getting lost at any moment.
There’s no particular group of people who should be using these tools. On the contrary, it is not even a necessity for every system. But, if you are someone who is concerned about their systems, then you should definitely get the best software to check hard drive health. It will keep your data as well as your hard disks intact.
You will know if there is any need to repair or replace your hard disk with the help of these tools. So, if you wish your hard disks to last longer, installing a hard disk health checker in your system would be a good choice.
1. Acronis Drive Monitor
Acronis Drive Monitor is a reliable and feature-rich hard disk health monitoring software. You can expect it to provide you with all the reliable information you might need for your hard drive. This tool can check the status of your hard drive’s health with maximum accuracy. The tool offers an excellent notification system that can handle unexpected failures in the best way.
The software will display your hard drive’s health based on various factors, the temperature of the disk, and even the total power on time. When you access the S.M.A.R.T. parameters, you will get a bunch of extra information about your hard drives, such as the error rate, uncorrectable sectors, spin retry count, and much more. Acronis Drive Monitor will send an alert as any problem is detected.
Best for: efficient all-in-one protection
Price: Free
Pros
- Easy-to-use backup and antivirus
- Provides security against all cyberattacks
- Immediate system and email alerts
- Monitor using S.M.A.R.T. or custom parameters
Cons
- SMTP server is necessary for email alerts
- The cost is a bit high
2. PassMark Diskcheckup
PassMark Diskcheckup is a smart and robust hard drive health monitoring tool. It deserves a place in the list of the best HDD health check software because it keeps on updating with stats and data from the past to function better. Whether a novice user or an expert, you will find all the necessary information about your hard disk in this software.
On top of that, PassMark Diskcheckup can run various stringent ‘Self-Tests’ on the supported hard drives to check its health. Even if there are multiple hard drives connected to your system, you can check the health of each of them with a single click. This makes it pretty easy for developers to monitor the health of multiple hard drives connected to their systems during the development phase.
Best for: monitoring the health of multiple hard drives simultaneously
Price: Free for personal use. The professional edition costs $27
Pros
- Email notifications when certain parameters exceed the threshold value
- Ability to run self-tests on supported hard disks
- Updates itself from past data and stats
Cons
- Log management is ineffective
- Error tracking is not up to the mark
3. HD Tune
HD Tune is another top software to check hard drive health that provides a detailed analysis using SMART sensors. It not only measures the health of your hard disk based on previous data, but it is also capable of tracking the current activity of your disk and coming up with the status based on it.
In the status tab, the user is notified if the disk is in danger or needs to be repaired. On top of that, the tab will also point out the critical issues separately. Different tabs display all the necessary information in detail about your hard disk’s health. If the status reads okay, there is nothing to worry about. If it displays any critical issues, you need to check for repairs.
Best for: pointing out the critical issues separately
Price: $34.95
Pros
- Supports all types of hard drives
- Customizable features in the tool
- Hard disk health tracking based on current activity
Cons
- Not able to save the information directly into a file
4. HDD Regenerator
HDD Regenerator is another professional hard drive health checking tool that can scan, diagnose, and repair the damages made to the hard disk. The software is named HDD Regenerator because it cannot only detect the issues and bad spots in the hard drive but also fix those issues to repair the hard drive.
The HDD Regenerator comes with various hard disk testing tools that can help you maintain the health of your hard drive. This tool is considered the best hard disk health check software for reading corrupt data. On top of that, the tool also comes with various tools to conduct S.M.A.R.T. tests.
Best for: scanning and intelligently repairing the hard disk
Price: Free
Pros
- Works efficiently with different hard disks
- Monitors the hard drive in real-time
- Detailed report of the health of your hard drive at different stages
- Capable of intelligently reading the corrupt data
Cons
- Eventually slows down if you have a large hard drive.
5. GSmartControl
GSmartControl is considered the best software to check hard drive health that performs a complete hard disk check and comes up with a detailed report. You will get a complete assessment of everything happening with your hard drive, its current status, and if any damage has been caused to it.
The software works in three phases to find any hard drive anomalies. Phase one consists of a short test to detect any damage to the hard disk. The second phase will scan the entire hard disk for anomalies. In the last phase, a conveyance test to detect any kind of hard drive damage that is made during the transportation of the drive.
Best for: finding anomalies in your hard disk through different phases
Price: Free
Pros
- Simple and easy-to-use interface
- No prior experience with SMART data is necessary
- Multi-zone error rate
Cons
- Small issues with the interface while clicking on the drives in the tool
6. Ashampoo HDD Control
Ashampoo HDD Control is the best HDD health checker because it helps you out in preventing your hard drive from corruption. The best thing about this tool is that it detects all the early signs of hard disk failure to make it easy for you to transfer the data if necessary and prevent any data loss scenarios.
Another important activity performed by this HDD health checker is that it will exponentially increase the reading speed of the hard drive. This will, in turn, increase your hard drive’s health and lifespan. The software also consists of various tools to help you recover and delete the data from your hard drive.
Best for: recovering and deleting data from your hard drive during hard disk damage scenarios
Price: $16
Pros
- Early warning system against failure
- Shorter access times
- Restore accidentally deleted files and also wipe out sensitive data
Cons
- Lacks traditional list view when it comes to the layout options
7. WinDFT – Hitachi Drive Fitness Test
WinDFT is another hard disk scanning tool that will scan the entire hard drive for damages and issues. Once the scanning process is complete, it will work its way up to troubleshooting them. The tool works pretty well with both internal and external hard drives. So, if you are using multiple hard drives, you can still be aware of their conditions without them being in the internal slot.
There are plenty of useful features being offered by this hard disk health checker. There are two different types of tests to choose from. You can either go with a quick scan or even perform an extended scan to get done with a hard disk diagnosis. After every successful scan, the tool will display a pass or fail result on the side.
Best for: performing quick hard drive scan at industry standards
Price: Free
Pros
- Two modes of scanning – quick scan and extended scan
- Diagnose integrity issues very quickly
- Supports both internal and external hard drives simultaneously
Cons
- Only suitable for Hitachi drives
8. CrystalDiskInfo
CrystalDiskInfo is a basic yet effective primary drive checking tool that can provide the user with all the basic information that might be needed. As soon as you run the program, you will see a simple status of your hard disk displayed in “Good” or “Bad” options. On top of that, you will also be able to see the current temperature of your hard drive in real-time.
The tool will also display all the information about your hard drive’s build, interface, and firmware. You can also expect to receive more real-time information like power-on hours, read error rate, power cycle, spin-up time, and much more. The software will portray the current and worst values so that you know if anything is wrong with your hard drive. This is why it is considered the best HDD health checker for basic users.
Best for: basic users looking to check their hard drive health
Price: Free
Pros
- Simple to understand for basic users
- Detailed information about your hard drive build
- Real-time information on vital hard drive attributes
Cons
- No help feature in the program for accompanying the user
- No explanation about the data being displayed
9. HDDScan
HDDScan is a worthy tool in the disk health checker tools list. It is a useful tool for running different types of scans on your hard drive to determine its health. There is not much information provided about the build and type of the hard drive, but you can try out the scans and tests provided by the software.
The best way is to run the long mode test to determine if any instant data recovery or repair is required for your hard drive. Another excellent thing about HDDScan is that it is not entirely built for scanning only hard drives. The tool can also scan the SSDs, USBs, Raid, and FireWire. Other than that, you can also try out the command line support provided through this tool.
Best for: scanning hard drives as well as other storage drives through the same tool
Price: Free
Pros
- Supports scanning different types of storage devices
- SMART reports can be stored in various file formats like TXT or MHT
- Provides command-line support
- Portable tool
Cons
- Only available for Windows systems
- No availability of help documents or built-in tips
10. HDD Health
HDD Health is another simple and easy-to-use tool that can perform all the necessary functions with minimum confusion for the users. The software uses simple parameters to determine the hard drive’s health and the current temperature. As the health of your hard disk is determined in terms of percentage, it becomes pretty easy for every user to understand what the tool is trying to say.
The results will go below with time as you use the hard drive. As long as the health of your hard drive is above 70%, it is not a problem for you to worry about. Besides the real-time information, you will also receive the basic information about your hard drives like their built type, capacity, manufacturer, and more.
Best for: performing basic hard drive health tracking functions with minimum confusion
Price: Free
Pros
- Lightweight hard drive tracking tool
- Compatible with both HDDs and SSDs
- Provides detailed information about your hard drive
Cons
- Pretty old-fashioned interface
FAQs
How do I check my HDD health?
If you are thinking about monitoring your hard drive health manually, then it is more of a waste of time. The best way to check and monitor the health of your hard drive to prevent any data corruption or data loss issues is to use a hard disk health check software.
How to check HDD speed and temperature?
The functioning and speed of your computer would also depend on your hard drive. If your hard drive’s temperature is always up, you can’t expect it to function smoothly. Using a hard drive health checker, you can easily determine your HDD’s speed and temperature.
Is it necessary to use a hard drive health checker?
It is not mandatory for users to use a hard drive health checker, but if you are concerned about your hard drive, you should consider installing the best disk health checker. This will help you sustain your hard drive’s health for a long time and prevent your data from being lost at any time.
What can cause hard drive failure?
There are plenty of reasons behind hard drive failure. The most common reasons for hard disk failure are water damage, heat, media damage, firmware corruption, power issues, and even human errors.
Conclusion
Looking out for your hard drive’s health is important to avoid any scenarios of data being corrupted or lost. The best way is to use the best HDD health checker to assist you with monitoring your hard drive’s health and keeping it safe and smoothly functional.
